RT Journal
A1 Carey TS
T1 Comparative effectiveness studies in chronic low back pain: Progress and goals
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2011
FD December 12
VO 171
IS 22
SP 2026
OP 2027
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.519
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.519
AB 
Chronic back pain is common, disabling, and expensive. Essentially all people will have some back pain during their lives, but in a minority of individuals acute back pain will become chronic, with symptoms lasting longer than 3 months and severe enough that some daily activities are impaired. In several recent studies, the proportion of the adult population affected by chronic back pain seems to be rising, with medical and social costs rising as well.1- 2 Given these circumstances, our society has an urgent need for effective, relatively inexpensive treatments to improve patient functional status and reduce pain. The field of chronic low back pain treatment is characterized by a large number of available treatments, but we have relatively poor information regarding how these treatments compare with each other.3 In such situations of uncertainty, treatment choice may vary, and use of ineffective treatments may proliferate. The United States is currently markedly increasing research activities comparing active treatments with each other, rather than no treatment or placebo. These studies, termed comparative effectiveness research (CER), are needed to address these situations of uncertainty and high practice variation.